Since when is a Police State a vacation destination?
Well it seems the fun has begun. Not just in Denver, where upwards of 100 people were arrested yesterday with 50-60 of them still being detained, dozens were pepper sprayed, pepper balled or whapped with a baton, and the Po-Po is donning brand spanking new uniforms that provide zero identification - no badges, no names, no numbers, no chance of disciplinary action; but in Minneapolis as well, where a trio of bicycling activists from NYC were detained and relieved of their video and still cameras, cell phones, computer equipment, clothing and money. Meanwhile, CNN, despite their gigantic media presence, can report no protest in Denver other than a very quiet iReport of a couple dozen anti-abortion folks who appear to have brazenly set up camp beyond the city limits, and the closest Minneapolis’ main media outlet gets to covering the arrest of bicyclists is a story about a motorcyclist popping a wheelie at 150 mph and still being able to make a cell phone call.
The award for most fabulously audacious and absurdly beautiful act of protest goes to the kids in Denver, whose project ‘Shake Your Money Maker’ was only partially unsuccessful when they were unable to levitate the Denver Mint.
I am having a difficult time deciding whether I will participate in the shenanigans next week, and if so, to what extent. One side of me defiantly says, ‘That there is no way I am going all the way over to St. Paul for some mace in the face.’ Another voice practically claims, ‘Well, I could see getting all worked up if this convention thing was in Mpls. but it isn’t so let’s just hang out at the gallery.’ Old guy with squeaky knees and gnarled back bemoans the fact that he is a Daddy now and thus it would be irresponsible to risk apprehension or physical harm to either himself or daughter. The idealist buried deep down is dying to be heard, hollering that standing up to the powers that be is in fact the only responsible thing to do, that the best way to protect his daughter’s future is to work to put an end to this madness now. A cynical reply doubts any of this is going to change a damn thing because while everyone is distracted by the festivities of the conventions the machinery of oppression and exploitation marches on as it has for the past twelve thousand years. Super angry guy grumbles that ‘they won’t get away with this shit.’
By all accounts only about 50,000 protester types will be heading into downtown St. Paul on Labor Day for the big ‘March’ or ‘Protest’ or whatever is going on. Which doesn’t seem like enough. Now, I am not the best mathematician, but if it is true that the cops are counting on amassing a force of 3500, that would mean that each one would have to fend off 14.28 protesters if everyone of those protesters could somehow simultaneously go apeshit and storm the convention. If that were the case, I don’t see how the police would survive. Plus, from all the video coming out of Denver, which isn’t much but IndyMedia has it, cops don’t like to fight one-on-one, rather they prefer a 6-1 cop to protester ratio. If that were the case, and again my math could be faulty, the poice would only be able to deal with 583.333 protesters at any given time, leaving 49,416.667 protesters to go buck wild for the palace. So why are the protesters the underdogs again?
For the art folks, who undoubtedly have the same multitude of voices in their heads as to how they should most effectively participate during these very active times, there are myriad events in town offering alternatives to the meat and potatoes rabble-rousing going on over in the Capitol. There’s the Liberty Parade and the Unconvention and the Yard Sign Project and the Peace Island Picnic and of course I cannot forget to plug Domestic Struggle, Part Threee, an exhibit at Art of This with the subtitle Songs of Returning, Both Silent and Aloud. Or is the title the other way around? Any way, there is plenty of activity for those who are seeking to avoid a canister of pepper spray being unleashed into their eyeballs.
Nonetheless, the fun has indeed begun for cops and artists alike.